May 9, 2010

UFC 113 a night of surprises

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua become the new Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion with an impressive win over the previously unbeaten Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida.

Rua came out with leg kicks to start the first round. Machida took Rua down to the canvas, but was unable to capitalize on his position. Rua was the aggressor throughout the fight, landing several big punches.

It seemed that just two minutes into the fight, Machida was trying to catch his wind.

Rua landed a right hand to the side of Machida's head, and the champion went down. Rua followed with six unanswered punches, knocking Machida out as the bout was stopped.

Dana White said on UFC.com: “To go out and knockout Lyoto Machida in the first round the way he did, I mean to stay that it was impressive is stupid. It’s unbelievable! It’s incredible!”

The fight between welterweights Josh Koscheck and Paul Daley turned out to be a shocker. It wasn’t that Koscheck won a unanimous decision against Daley. The surprise was Daley’s punch after the final bell. Daley seemed to be frustrated with Koscheck’s wrestling moves throughout the fight. Just before the final bell, Koscheck had Daley on his back and whispered something into Daley’s ear. After the bell, Daley walked over to Koscheck and landed maybe his best punch of the night.

During the post-fight news conference, White said of Daley on UFC.com: “He’s done. I don’t give a [expletive] if he is the best 170-pounder in the world, he will never come back, he will never come back. He’s done! It’s probably one of the dumbest things I have ever seen.”

White was outspoken about the melee after the April Strikeforce event on CBS. White said to fightline.com about the melee, "When have you seen anything remotely close to that happen at a UFC event?” He also went on the say, “That was just another example of how bush league they (Strikeforce) are."

Well, this shows you it could happen at any event. Fighters can and will do some dumb things, and it doesn’t matter if they are fighting for a smaller fight league or for UFC.

Other fights on the card:

Lightweight Jeremy Stephens won a split decision over Sam Stout. I thought Stout had won the fight.

Heavyweight Matt Mitrione stopped Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson in the second round. White said on UFC.com, “That’s probably Kimbo’s last fight in the UFC”

This should be Kimbo Slice’s last fight in the UFC. He was out of shape, and it showed throughout the fight. He’ll sign with Strikeforce before the summer is over.

Paul Daley is the biggest moron in mixed martial arts.. he was given a contender fight, and a chance to coach on the new season of The Ultimate Fighter and they guy can’t keep his cool after getting OWNED?? Come on, that’s weak… people like him don’t belong in the UFC.. such garbage… if you missed it, see the video @ http://www.lionsdenu.com/daley-punches-koscheck-in-the-face-after-fight/
talk about throwing away the chance of a lifetime… never again dana said..

I am only surprised that Shogun finished him that quickly. I expected a fight relatively similar to the last one.

I don't think I am ready to see Kimbo go yet. The UFC has let other Ultimate Fighter Alum hang around with more than one loss. Forrest Griffin seems to have 9 lives when it comes to losing repeatedly and still getting more fights and more money. If I were Dana I would tell Kimbo he has to go down to LHW to avoid being cut, but I wouldn't cut him without another fight. Kimbo is still early in his career and his record is only 4-2. He was well known prior to coming to the UFC but that doesn't mean he was an MMA veteran. He has shown a lot of improvement and still has potential to be a good fighter. I think he is too small to fight HW, but he has as much chance (punchers) at this point of beating top tier guys as any of the other HW from the show do, except for maybe Nelson.

Lastly, I don't think Belcher has a prayer against Silva. Their styles are similar but Silva is superior in every aspect. It might be entertaining to watch because I doubt Belcher will hide from him, but his chances are extremely slim.

paul daley should be suspended not kicked out of ufc he only did what everybody else wants to do to that mop head and kimbo should go back to street fighting cause he aint no ufc fighter i like kimbo and would love to see him doing well but but its not goin to happen he mite be able to take a punch but he cant handle being kicked in the legs. come on rampage.

Kimbo Slice is not an MMA fighter.. dude got Owned and his knees are SHOT!! And Paul Daley is the dumbest fighter in mixed martial arts.. he was given a contender fight, and a chance to coach on the new season of The Ultimate Fighter and they guy can’t keep his cool after getting OWNED?? Come on, that’s weak… people like him don’t belong in the UFC.. such garbage.

Belcher v. Silva intrigues me very much. I really loved how Belcher stood and delivered in the pocket against Cote with those ridiculous leg kicks!!!

Even Dana said Belcher is a legit contender, but he's lined up Sonnen and Belfort for Anderson. (I'd love to see Vitor v. Belcher on the same card as Silva v. Sonnen). Cote is certainly no slouch. Remember his last fight was for the title against Anderson.

Cote has serious knockout power, and Belcher came forward and finished him. Cote v. Silva was a close fight with Silva taking a much different approach by not really engaging in the pocket. Cote lost due to a freak acl tear while planting his foot on the mat in that fight.

Now consider Anderson is Machida's training partner and the only guy Anderson has been adament about not facing. Shogun kind of taking a page out of Belcher game plan vs. Cote came forward and finished Machida fairly quickly.

I agree with JK that nobody fancies me enough to pick them over Anderson Silva at this point, but Belcher vs. Anderson could turn out to be a really good fight considering the fight history parallels I just laid out.

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About the blogger

Kevin Richardson has been a fan of mixed martial arts competition ever since UFC 3, when 600-pound sumo wrestler Emmanuel Yarborough was beaten by Keith Hackney. Kevin will cover the world of MMA — in Baltimore, nationally and internationally. He plans to take readers into the locker rooms and MMA schools, where they'll hear from local fighters and trainers. If you have a news tip or suggestions for the blog, please e-mail him.